JUNGLE WARFARE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 86, Issue 308, 31 December 1942, Page 2

JUNGLE WARFARE

WOUNDED MEN BACK STORIES OF HORROR Sydney, December 15 Wounded Australian soldiers, many from the Buna-Gona front, have arrived in Sydney with stories of some of the war’s most savage fighting. Men who had fought in Libya, Greece, and Syria declared that the worst in those ■compaigns could not compare with the horrors in the New Guinea jungle. Some, wounded by Japanese explosive light machine-gun bullets, dragged themselves miles through sopping, festering jungle, to reach aid. Use of explosive bullets is a breach of international law. The bullets, which explode after penetration, cause shocking wounds. • The wounded arrived in a special hospital train. Three nursing sisters and. 40 male hospital orderlies worked night and day on the train attending them. Meals were cooked and served on the train. Doctors performed several minor operations during the trip. |More fhan 30 military ambulances yvere waiting on the platform of a suburban railway station near the base liosnital to which the men were taken. ’ The following are experiences of some of the wounded men: 1 Private E. Archer, of Sydney (wounded by shrapnel), who was sick in Soputa Hospital, near Buna when it was bombed by the Japanese, said: “The bombing was callous and deliberate. The hospital consisted of a large number of tents close together. It was plainly marked. There were no fortifications near it. Japanese Zeros several times flew low over the hospital, and.' when they left us alone we thought they would respect the hospital. But they sent dive bombers at us. The dive-bombers came in low over the jungle, only 80 feet up. I heard someone shout. ‘Here come the Japs.’ Many of the patients jumped out of bed and bolted for slit trenches. I started to follow, then decided to take my chance. The first bomb landed fair among tents crowded with soldiers too badly wounded, or sick to reach cover. It was sickening slaughter. Two doctors who had been attending the men were also killed instantly. The next bomb lobbed in the tent next to mine. My tent was ripped to ribbons with shrapnel, and I don’t remember any more. The men at Buna have vowed to avenge Soputa.” Sergeant Jim Coy, wounded fighting on the beach 1000 yards from Gonn. said: “The Japanese are more like wild animals than men. Even when they have been cut off and have no hope of escaping, they refuse to come out until you blast them out with bullets or grenades.” Coy was shot. in a shoulder by a sniper at night while talking to his commanding officer. He has souvenired the bullet. He said the Japanese use luminous paint on the sights of their guns so they can shoot at night. Coy was shot in the other shoulder in Syria. Explosive Bullets Private Don Thomas, of Cullen Bullen (New South Wales), described the effects of the Japanese explosive sub-machine-gun bullets: “The bullets exploded when they hit the trees. Most men hit by the bullets were killed, but those who survived had dreadful injuries.” Thomas lost one leg. He dragged himself some distance on his back through the jungle. New Guinea natives carried him through slush and thick jungle for two days. “We love those fuzzy-wuzzy angels; many of us would not be alive if it had not been for them,” he said. “They hate the Japanese worse than we do. Our fellows found out why. They found the outraged and mutilated bodies of native women near the Japanese camps. The natives could not fight the Japanese with their primitive weapons, but they know we can, and that's why they help us. We Australians should do something big for those fuzzy-wuzzies after the war to repay them.” Private George Edwards, of Bega (New South Wales) was also wounded while on jungle patrol. He said: “Eight of us were slushing along with our weapons slung on our backs. The corporal told us to check the safety catches on our rifles. The moment we moved our weapons to do this a Japanese machine-gun opened up and got the lot of us. These Japanese had infiltrated behind our lines and were hiding. They thought we had discovered them when we moved our weapons. I got mine in the thigh. Although the eight of us were within feet of each other when hit, the jungle was so thick we did not see each other again until we reached the dressing station. Although we were all wounded, thanks to the carriers none of us died.”